Stranger Things

What: The second season of the ’80s sci-fi mystery

When: All nine episodes available today

Where: Netflix

As the second season of the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things” is about to drop, everybody is wondering if it can live up to expectations. What was deemed a cute little ode-to-the-’80s series when it debuted in July 2016 has suddenly become serious stuff.

One way this is apparent? I went to check a fact about the Netflix series on IMDB and there was a giant Eggo ad on the web page. The breakfast food was a plot point in the first season.

Earlier this year, “Stranger Things,” which was created by the Duffer brothers, pulled off a coup when it won the Screen Actors Guild award for outstanding ensemble performance in a drama series, beating HBO’s powerhouse “Game of Thrones.” Recently, it won five Emmys, albeit none of the major awards.

It’s hard to size up what has made the series so popular. Part of it is its retro appeal. It speaks to a past zeitgeist, reflecting the rosy picture of “Morning in America,” the famous campaign ad for President Ronald Reagan’s re-election in 1984, the year in which the second season of “Stranger Things” is set.

Unlike more sophisticated shows found today, the Netflix series doesn’t traffic in irony or allusions or the thorny social and political issues we face. It was almost like the show was made as a respite from such issues. When it came out, the bitter presidential campaign was sucking up the oxygen on the airwaves and internet.

Instead, the first season of “Stranger Things” is a fun, campy trip filled with ’80s pop references. While Netflix promoted the show, a lot of people seemed to discover it through word of mouth and social media.

While the series is decidedly apolitical, ironically it became even more politically relevant after the presidential election. People started referring to the current state of the country as America in the Upside Down, the weird parallel dimension that is part of the “Stranger Things” story and is home to the monster known as the Demogorgon.

Days after the president’s first travel ban, in fact, series star David Harbour delivered a fiery acceptance speech at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. He called on the creative community to battle against real “monsters,” an obvious reference to the political moment.

There is little of that talk now. As the nine-episode second season drops Oct. 27, more than likely fans of the first year will be streaming it like comfort food. Eggos, maybe?

Despite the fact that the setting is about a week before the 1984 election, “Stranger Things” only references it in some political signs in front of the houses in Hawkins, Indiana. (Reagan won Indiana by almost 24 percentage points.)

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There will be a new monster for the four boys to face. Will (Noah Schnapp) was rescued from the Upside Down at the end of last season, but as the new one opens, he and the others — Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) — are still uneasy.

Portrayed hypnotically by Millie Bobby Brown, the mysterious Eleven — El, as she is known — disappeared at the end of the first season, though we already know she returns. (Netflix knows it has a star with her.) We already had a hint last season when Police Chief Jim Hopper (Harbour) leaves a box of food in the woods containing Eggos, an obsession of El’s.

On Halloween night, Will sees what he thinks is the shadow of a giant, spider-like monster. The top-secret laboratory remains and again is the subject of rumors. Will’s mom, Joyce (the eminently watchable Winona Ryder), wants to tell the world what’s happened, but who will believe it?

Eventually, things get real, or as real as a lightweight fantasy can get.

Joining the cast this year is Brett Gelman as a freelance reporter sniffing out what he thinks is a cover-up, and Paul Reiser as a scientist who examines the strangely behaving Will. Joyce gets some romance in her life with a boyfriend, Bob, played by Sean Astin.

A red-haired tomboy named Max (Sadie Sink) becomes friends with the guys, although she is skeptical at first of what they tell her. Her older brother, Billy (Dacre Montgomery), becomes competition to Steve (Joe Keery), who is going out with Mike’s older sister, Nancy (Natalie Dyer).

Some thought Nancy would end up with Will’s older brother, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), but that didn’t happen. By the way, Barb (Shannon Purser), Nancy’s missing friend, doesn’t rematerialize. She was yanked into the Upside Down last season, but her disappearance plays a role in the new season.

As for other details, it’s best left for you to discover them. It’s easy to fall in love the first time. This season “Stranger Things” faces the problem of being even more familiar, but maybe that turns out to be a good thing.